


Caleb Cleveland Has A Getaway Plan

by Cinomari



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angus doesnt want to, Found Family, Gen, Lucretia tells balance members to take off their bracers, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon, angus angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:21:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24033454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cinomari/pseuds/Cinomari
Summary: About a month after the day of Story and Song, Lucretia sends word to Bureau of Balance members- the bracers are no longer necessary. She asked members to return either to her or to Avi to have them removed, but one member would rather keep his on. Just in case.Angus McDonald, boy detective, knew better than to get rid of a way home.
Relationships: The Director | Lucretia & Angus McDonald
Comments: 13
Kudos: 83





	Caleb Cleveland Has A Getaway Plan

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first TAZ: Balance fic. I think the bracers are nifty. I'm @cinomari_ on twitter if you want to talk about TAZ or just about anything else!

The rebuild after Story and Song had been arduous and tasking, and it had only just begun. But about a month after the fight, Lucretia sent out a message to everyone who had been part of the Bureau of Balance, calling to them to return to the base to have their bracers removed. Why would she keep them? They had no use in tracking their members any longer, and if the current plan to expand continued there would be too many to give bracers to each. 

She asked Avi to reach out to Taako. The wound was still too fresh. But the rest of the Bureau were encouraged to come at their leisure to have their bracers removed, and to check out the rebuild happening around the base, lead by Carey and Killian. 

A few days after she sent out the message, there was a knock at the door to Lucretia’s study. She considered ignoring it, until she heard a little voice outside. “Ma’am?” Angus McDonald spoke up, “Madam Director, please, I know you’re in there!” 

Lucretia stood up. She hadn’t seen much of Angus during these past few weeks, she assumed he’d have gone the way of Taako, unlikely to want to see her after what she’d done to his mentor. Regardless, she opened the door and stepped aside. 

“Hello, Angus,” Lucretia said, a ghost of a smile across her face. It felt unnatural. Unearned. 

Angus was quiet for a moment, his eyes scanning around the room as they always did, “Hello, Madam Director!” He shook his head and smiled, remembering his manners, “May I come in?” 

She nodded, stepping aside, “Of course. Would you like some tea? I have a few uncaffeinated blends, I’m not sure at what age you should start drinking caffeine,” She moved over to her teapot, still warm from her cup that morning.

“Oh, yes please! I already drink caffeine, I’m a busy boy! But whatever you have will do perfectly, thank you.” He spoke as evenly as possible, but wrung his hands over and over again. 

“Sit, please,” Lucretia pointed at the seat across from hers at the desk, pouring two cups of the tea. Once he sat down, she set a teacup down in front of Angus, watching with a raised eyebrow as he picked at his fingernails. 

“Thank you,” He smiled, watching the tea steep, “I-” Before he could continue, he moved his arm to show the bracer still attached to him. 

“Oh, the bracer,” Lucretia interrupted, “One moment, I can get that off for you, I’m sure the others have gotten theirs off in the past few days.” She dug through her sleeve for her wand. She found herself favoring the more casual wand than the previous elegant staff these days. 

“No!” Angus pulled his arm back, hiding the bracer behind him. He blushed, sheepishly moving his hand back, “I mean, that’s what I came to speak with you about, ma’am. I… What are your plans for the cannon transport units?” 

She looked surprised. Sure, Angus was one of the few allowed to touch the cannon mechanisms, but Lucretia had been under the impression that he wanted to learn only to assist the reclaimers. 

“Well,” She cleared her throat, taking hold of her teacup and inspecting it as if to decide if it was still too hot. Both of them knew it was, without having to touch it. “I plan on deactivating most of them, but keeping a few for the Bureau of Benevolence’s purposes. Our people still need to get on and off the base, I suppose. May I ask why? And what the bracer has to do with it?” 

There was another long silence. Angus didn’t bother to come up with a pretend excuse, teacup temperature or otherwise. Instead, he just played with the end of his bracer. He took a deep breath, “The bracers are a way to call the cannonballs to you.” 

“That’s correct,” Lucretia frowned, setting her teacup down while she leaned forward, watching Angus touch the end of his bracer, fiddling with it over and over. 

“Do you plan on disabling that feature?” He squirmed in his seat, unsure how to hold his own in this conversation. This wasn’t laying out evidence. It was a plea bargain. 

“Angus, I plan on disabling the bracers all together. They aren’t needed in the Bureau of Benevolence. If you need a cannonball to go where you need, you can always use your stone of farspeech to contact Avi or even myself beforehand.” 

He was quiet for a minute, finally taking a sip of his tea for something to do. It burned his mouth, but he fought to keep his composure in front of the most composed person in the world. 

“Madam Director-” 

“Please,” She interrupted him, quietly, “Lucretia. Just Lucretia.” 

Angus watched her, the gears turning over and over in his head, “Right. Lucretia. Miss Lucretia, you never know what kind of scrapes you can get into while out detectiving! It’s always good to have a contingency plan. Caleb Cleveland has a getaway horse, so I figured… I figured I needed a way to get home too.” 

Lucretia was silent for a long moment, watching him. After he said his piece, Angus tucked further back into the chair, holding his bracer-arm against his chest as if to protect it from her. She’d never quite been a motherly type, but more than anything she wanted to reassure him. 

“I’m not going to take your bracer away, Angus,” She answered quietly, “Caleb Cleveland is very smart to have a backup plan. But wouldn’t you rather have a way to your real home? Or to Lucas’ school, once it opens? We could even find a horse for you, or have Lucas make you a cycle with a motor.” 

“It’s not just that,” He protested, taking another sip of his tea, “The bracer… It means something. It’s always there. And it’s always a way home. It can’t be… Removed easily. It can’t be taken away.” 

Lucretia fell silent. She studied him, though was suddenly aware of how imposing a figure she was behind her desk. She sighed, and stood. 

“... Angus, come look out the window with me,” Lucretia walked to the other side of the room and moved the heavy curtains out of the way of the view, tying them back with a long rope. A small cloud of dust floated out of the curtain. She’d kept them drawn for so long. “Do you see that? The arena, right over there. The quad in the middle,” She kept moving her hand to point, bending down slightly so she could see exactly what Angus saw. 

He nervously walked over to stand next to her, nodding as he looked out over the base, “Yes? Yes, I see it. I’ve seen it a million times. My dorm is over there. The library is right next to it. I could draw a map of the Bureau headquarters with my eyes closed, ma’am.” 

“I know. Because it’s home. It’s my home too, Angus.” Carefully, so carefully as if he may break, she put a hand on his back, “I’m not taking my bracer off either. You’re welcome to leave yours on as well. The cannonballs will always be there for you, but even if they weren’t? I think you’d find plenty of people willing to help you get home.” 

He looked up at her and smiled, slowly opening his arms up. Angus was often unsure if he was reading the signals of others correctly, unsure if he meant to blur the lines of professionalism or if this was going too far. Lucretia wrapped both arms around him as soon as she was allowed, bending her back and knees to hold him. He latched on with both arms, squeezing her.


End file.
